Meeting Abstract
Recent advances in RNA-Seq technology and our ability to functionally annotate and study expression of thousands of genes in non-model species holds great potential for advancing the field of conservation biology. This project leverages transcriptomic methods to better understand how freshwater mussels (Unionidae) respond to environmental stressors, with the ultimate goal of improving conservation and management of North America’s most endangered faunal group. A common conservation technique includes relocation into captivity for purposes such as research, propagation, and provision of temporary habitat. Relocation, however, often results in reduced growth rates and increased mortality. To better understand the physiological effects of relocation, we studied differential gene expression between wild and relocated, captive freshwater mussels. Amblema plicata individuals were relocated from the Muskingum River in Ohio to the Freshwater Mussel Conservation and Research Center. Gill tissue samples were collected from wild and captive mussels one year post-relocation. RNA was extracted and sequenced using 100 bp reads on the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform. Transcriptomes were assembled using Trinity and differential gene expression was analyzed using the Bioconductor package edgeR. Transcripts were used as BLASTx queries against the National Center for Biotechnology nonredundant database. Functional annotation of transcripts using Gene Ontology terms was performed using Blast2GO. Significant differential gene expression was observed for over 1,000 genes between wild and relocated individuals. We discuss how expression levels of genes may be monitored in both natural and experimental settings to evaluate stress responses to a wide variety of environmental variables, and how such information can be used to improve conservation techniques.
